Why is self-reliance essential to happiness?

Answer:

Each person is responsible to become self-reliant, doing all in one's power to provide for self and others before calling upon others for assistance. Once able to provide for self, that person is then able to reach a helping hand to others and receive the joy and satisfaction that such acts of charity bring.

“Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak” (Marion G. Romney, “The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,” Ensign, Nov. 1982, 91).